Animated figure



March 18 194 1. L. J. HERTE ANIMATED FIGURE Filed Nov. 25, 1939 2Sheets-Sheet 1 t INVENTOR.

BY f7 5 M I" iflrwu.

ATTORNEYS March 18, 1941 L. J. HERTE ANIMATED FIGURE Filed Nov. 25, 19392 Sheets-Sheet 2 INV NTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 18, 1941 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

This invention relates to animated figures 0f the type adapted for useeither as a toy or as an advertising display to promote the sale ofcommodities such, for example, as bottled beverages,

the particular figure herein illustrated being a cub bear.

An important object of the invention is to pro vide simple and improvedoperating means by p which various movements of the figure may beexecuted in life-like fashion in order to portray a sequence of acts as,for example, the pouring of liquid from a bottle into a tumbler and thedrinking oi the liquid content of such tumbler. Other objects andadvantages of the invention will become apparent from the followingdescription when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich-- Fig. 1 is a face View of an animated figure constructed inaccordance with the present invention, the animated figure beingrepresentative 7 of a cub bear in the act of pouring liquidfrom a bottleinto a tumbler;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1, the cub bear as representedby the animated figure being shown in the act of drinking the liquidcontent of the tumbler;

Figs. 3 and 4 are side elevations of the animated figure as viewedrespectively from the left in Fig. 2 and the rightin Fig. 1, certainportions of the figure being removed or broken away in order toillustrate'portionsof its self-contained operating mechanism;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the animated figure showing inrear elevation various parts of its self-containedoperating mechanism;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 6-6 of Fig 5 andshowing in side elevation the operating mechanism as viewed from theright of Fig. 5;

Fig. '7 is a sectional view taken on line l-'! of Fig. 5 and showingpartly in section and partly in elevation various parts of the operatingmechanism, and

Fig. .8 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral It] indicates a suitable basewhich is incorporated in the animated figure and which is of suchdimensions that the figure may be supported in a sitting position. Onthe base I!) there is carried a motor-driven operating unit II, whichincludes a pair of vertically disposed plate-like frame members 12,spaced from each other and serving to support a suitable electric motorM which may beconveniently connected to a source of current supply, notshown, by any appropriate so-called two-conductor extension cord M. Theoperating unit II also includes a suitable gear train l5, which issupported by the frame members I 2, and by which its power take-offshaft 5 I6 is driven by the motor M at a relatively slow speed. Thepower take-01f shaft iii of the gear train I5, like theremaining shaftspeculiar to such gear train, is journalled in the frame members l 2 ofthe operating unit I I. The power takeofi shaft I 6 differs from theremaining gear-train shafts in that it is provided with an extension I!to which are secured a pair of cam units l8 and 20, disposedsubstantially at right angles to each other and respectively including apair of diametrically opposed cams l8'-l8' and 20'20'. The cam units [8and 20 are adapted to cooperate with a pair of operating levers 2i and22, suitably connected at their corresponding ends to a horizontallydisposed shaft 23, associated with 20 and suitably supported by theframe members 20 of the operating unit I I. The levers 2| and 22 areprovided with outwardly extending pins 2|- and 22 which are engaged bythe respective cam units It and 20 and are thuslsubjected alternate- 25ly to the operating influence of the cam units.

To the base Ill there are suitably connected a pair of verticallydisposed angle-like brackets 24, to the upper ends of, which is suitablyconnected a body plate 25, to which is secured a 30 yoke-like support 26pivotally connected by a hinge member?! to a head plate 28 incorporatedin and forming a part of the head 30 of the animated figure.

The desired outline or configuration of the 35 head 30 of the animatedfigure, as well as the body portion 3| of such figure, is attained bythe use of a suitable relatively rigid material, such as papier-mach 32,the head 39 and the body portion 3| being separate or distinct withreference to each other so as to permit relative movement therebetweenunder the conditions of operation hereinafter moreparticularlydescribed. In order that the animated figure may present a life-likeappearance, the head 3!) and the body 3| are covered with a flexiblefur-like material 34, that portion of the flexible material 34 whichcovers the head extending downwardly andbeing flexibly joined to theupper marginal portion of the body 3! as shown at 35. To provide forrelative movement between the upper and lower jaws 36 and 31 of the headunit 3!], incident to movement of that unit with reference to the body31, the lower jaw 31 (constructed of papier-mach with a fur-likecovering material) is connected to the body 3| only through the mediumof the fur-like material which is, of course, sufiiciently yieldable topermit relative, and substantially unrestricted, movement between thetwo jaws.

The fore legs, or arms, 33 and 40 of the animated figure are in the formof sheaths or coverings made of flexible material identical with thefur-like material 34 entering into the construction of the head 30 andthe body 3i. he fore legs 38 and All are given their general re spectiveshapes by reason of the fact that they include a pair of substantiallyngid conduit units 4| and 42. The conduit unit 4| consists of a metalpipe 44 secured to and communicating with a tumbler 45, the tumblerbeing supported by the tube although apparently held by the paw of thefigure. The tube 44 is bent at a relatively sharp angle in the vicinityof the juncture of the leg 38 with the body 3!, the tube being thusprovided with a straight or pivot portion 53 rotatably supported in apair of bearings l'i secured to the body plate 25. As to the conduitunit 52, it comprises a tube 48 similar to the tube 44, the tube 48being contained within the fore leg 49 and bent, in the vicinity of thejuncture of that leg with the body 3 I, at substantially right angles soas to provide a straight or pivot portion 5&1 rota-tably supportedwithin a pair of bearings 51 secured to the body plate 25. The pivotportions 46 and of the respective tubes 44 and 48 are telescopicallyfitted to each other so as to afiord a liquid-tight joint therebetweenwhile at the same time permitting either of su h tubes to be moved withreference to the other about their common axis of rotation. The conduitunit d2 also includes a flexible tube 52 leading from the tube 43 to arelatively short tube which is secured to and communicates with a bottle55 apparently held in the paw of the figure. In order that therelatively short tube 54 and the bottle 55 may be adequately supported,despite the presence of the flexible tube 52, the tube 43 is providedwith a pair of bracket-like bearings 56, within which is journalled anoperating shaft 51, the offset and angular bent portion 58 of which isconnected to the relatively short tube 54. The shaft 51 serves not onlyto support the bottle 55 but also serves, when rotated under conditionsof operation hereinafter more particularly described, to rotate therelatively short tube'54 and thus cause the bottle 55 to tilt in onedirection upon initiating a pouring operation and in an oppositedirection incident to the completion of such pouring operation, rotationof the tube 54 with reference to the tube 43 being permitted by theflexibility of the interposed tube 52. In order that the fore legs 38and 43 may be alternately raised and lowered in carrying out theintended .acts on the part of the figure, the pivot portions 45 and 55of the respective tubes 44 and 48 are independently rotated about theircommon axis, and to this end the pivot portions are provided withoperating levers so and GR rigidly secured thereto as by soldering andconnected by links 62 and 64 to the levers 2i and 22, which arealternately subjected to the operating influence of the motor-actuatedcams l8 and 20. It is thus apparent that as the cam units It and 20 arerotated the lever 22 is depressed, thus causing the fore leg 45 of thefigure to be elevated from its position shown in Fig. 2 to its positionshown in Fig. 1 while the fore leg 38 of the figure is maintained in itsposition shown in Fig. 1. When the fore leg 50 assumes its elevatedposition it is maintained in that position for a short period of timeafter which it moves by gravity to its position shown in Fig. 2, thuscausing the lever 22 to move upwardly about the axis of its associatedshaft 23. Upon further rotation of the cam units if and 20, the lever 2|is depressed by the cam unit I8, thus causing the fore leg 38 of thefigure to move from its lowermost position shown in Fig. l to itsuppermost position shown in Fig. 2, the fore leg 33 being maintained inits uppermost position for a period of time, after which it is returnedto its position shown in Fig. 1, thereby causing the lever 21 to moveupwardly about the axis of its associated shaft 23 to its position shownin Fig. 6. t or about the time the fore leg to approaches its uppermostposition it becomes desirable to tilt the bottle 55 so that the liquidcontent of such bottle will be poured therefrom into the tumbler 45while such tumbler is held in the position shown in Fig. 1.

Tilting of the bottle 55 is efiected by rotating the associatedrelatively short tube 56 under the action of the operating shaft 51,which is caused to turn in its bearingsby reason of the fact that it isprovided with a lever 65 which is connected to the body plate 25 by thelink 55. In order to obviate tilting of the bottle 55 until such time asthe fore leg 45 approaches the uppermost limit of its movement, theconnection afforded between the lever 65 and link 66 is such as willpermit a certain amount of lost motion so as to render the linkineffective with respect toits associated lever throughout the majorextent of upward movement of the fore leg 40. Such lost motion may beafforded by looping the outer end of the link 55 through a slightlyelongated slot 61 formed in the outer end of the lever 55. The bottle 55is reversely tilted to its normal position during the first part of thedescent of the fore leg 48 to its lowermost position, the completion ofsuch reverse tilting being efiected at that point in the path ofmovement of the fore leg 46] at which tilting movement of the bottle topouring position is initiated in the upward movement of the fore legit).

Referring again to the details of construction of the lower jaw portion31 of the animated figure, it is to be observed that such jaw portionincludes a form-lending tongue-like wing 58, to the outer edge or marginof which are connected the papier-mach 32 and flexible fur-like material34 of the lower jaw. The inner end of the wing 68 is disposed within aslot-like opening 10 formed in the head plate 23 and is pivotallyconnected to that head plate by a hinge pin 1 l about which the wing 68is adapted to move. The wing 88 is provided, relatively near its pivotpoint with an upwardly extending lug T2, to which is connected one endof a tension spring '14, the other end of the spring being anchored, asat 15, to the rear portion of the head unit 35. Normally the spring 14functions to retain the upper and lower jaw portions 35 and 3'! of thehead unit 30 in a closed relation.

In operation the head unit 35 is tilted rearwardly and the mouth of theanimated figure is simultaneously opened to receive the rim portion ofthe tumbler 45 as the fore leg 38 assumes its uppermost position, sothat the animated figure may seemingly execute in life-like fashion theact of drinking the contents of the tumbler, and to these ends the headplate 28 is connected to the lever 2| which controls the movement of thefore leg 38. The connection between the head plate 28 and the lever 2iincludes a link 76, which is of which is providedwith a stop 8 I, whichengages the loop 18 as the lever 2| descends under the action of the camunit I8. By reason of the lost motion connection which is affordedbetween the link 16 and the finger 8B, the tilting move ment of the headunit 30 is initiated somewhat prior to such time as the tumbler 45 iselevated to its uppermost position and is completed simultaneously withthe completion of the upward movement of the foreleg 38. Immediatelyprior to such time as the tumbler 45 reaches its uppermost position andimmediately prior to such time as the head unit assumes its extremerearwardly tilted position, the tongue-like wing 68 (forming a part ofthe head unit and lending shape to the lower jaw portion 31 of thefigure) is restrained against bodily movement with the head unit byreason of the fact that such lower jaw portion is anchored to the bodyplate 25 by a suitable flexible element such as a cord 82, the cordbeing connected to the lower jaw portion at 84 and to the body plate at85. By reason of the anchorage afforded between the lower jaw portion 31and the body plate 25, it will become apparentthat when the cord 82 isplaced under tension incident to backward movement of the head unit 35,the tongue-like wing 68 is moved relatively to the upper jaw portion 36of the figure about the hinge pin 1 I, although the head unit is free tocontinue to move backwardly against the action of the spring 14 until itassumes its extreme tilted position at which time the mouth of thefigure will have assumed full open position and will have received thelip of the tumbler 45.

Although it is believed that the operation of the animated figure may befully understood from the foregoing description of the same, it may bewell to here summarize the sequence of acts which are executed by thefigure and to comment on certain features of the operation peculiar tothe present embodiment of the invention. When the motor M is energizedthe levers 2| and 22 are alternately depressed under the action of therespective cam units l8 and 20, with the result that the fore legs and38 are alternately raised, the fore leg 40 being lowered as the fore leg38 is raised and the fore leg 38 being lowered as the fore leg 40 israised. It is to be observed, however, in connection with the raisingand lower ing movements of the fore legs 38 and 40 that, due to therelationship of the cam units l8 and 2'0 to the levers 2| and 22, eachof the legs is maintained momentarily at rest in each of its extremepositions. As the fore leg 4!! is elevated, the bottle 55 is tiltedunder the action of the shaft 5'! to such a position that the liquidcontent of the bottle is poured into the tumbler 45, which is thenpositioned to receive such liquid. After the pouring of the liquid fromthe bottle into the tumbler has been completed, the fore leg 40 islowered under the action of gravity to its normal position and the foreleg 38 is moved to its unpermost position Although the tumblercommunicates with the bottle 55 by way of the conduit units 4| and 42,it is apparent, reference being had particularly to Figure 4, thatduring the pouring operation liquid cannot be transferred from eitherthe bottle to the tumbler or from the tumbler to the bottle by way ofsuch conduit units due to the relatively high location of the straightor pivot portions 46 and 50 of the tubes 44 and 48.

However, as the fore leg 38 is raised, the liquid content of the tumbler45, together with such liquid as may have accumulated within the tube 44during the pouring operation, is permitted to flow by gravity to thebottle by Way of the conduit units 4i and 42, such fiow being initiatedat that point in the upward movement of the fore leg 38 corresponding tothe horizontal plane in which the straight or pivot portions 45 and 50of the tubes 44 and 48 are disposed. By such time as the foreleg 38reaches its uppermost limit of movement, the liquid content of thetumbler 45, or at least the major portion of such liquid content, willhave returned to the bottle 55 by way of the conduit units 4| and 42,thus conditioning the bottle .55 for a subsequent pouring operation.Although the liquid content of the tumbler 45 is returned to the bottleby way of the conduit units 4! and 42, the illusion is carried out tothe effect that the animated figure engages in the drinking of thecontents of the tumbler pursuant to the lifting of the tumbler to itsuppermost position, the illusionary effect concerning the consumption ofthe liquid content of the tumbler being especially emphasized by reasonof the fact that the head-like unit 30 of the figure is tilted and themouth of the figure is opened and receives the l p ofthe tumbler as itassumes its uppermost position. At or about the time of completion ofthe transfer of the liquid content of the tumbler 45 to the bottle 55,the fore leg 38 of the figure is moved to its lowermost position,whereupon the cycle of operation is repeated beginning with the pouringof the liquid from the bottle into the tumbler.

Although only one form of the invention is herein shown and described,it will become apparent that various changes may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. An animated figure comprising a body, a limb member pivotallysupported. for upward and downward movement with relation to said body,a liquid-dispensing receptacle carried by said limb member, conduitmeans for effecting transfer of liquid to said receptacle and includinga pair of tubes which are substantially rigid in themselves and with oneof which said receptacle directly communicates, that tube with whichsaid receptacle directly communicates and operable incident to upwardmovement of said limb member for rotating said tube whereby saidreceptacle is tilted to pouring position, said actuating means includinga shaft pivotally supported with reference to one of said tubes andrigidly connected to that tube with which sa d receptacle directlycommunicates, and a link and lever unit associated with said shaft andrendered effective to impart rotation to said shaft incident to upwardmovement of said limb member.

2. In an animated figure comprising a body, a pair of upwardly anddownwardly movable limb members pivotally supported with relation tosaid body, a pair of receptacles carried by said limb members and fromone to the other of which liquid is poured at such time as said limb members assume definite positions in their respective paths of movement,conduit means leading from one receptacle through its associated limbmember and thence through said body to the other of said receptacles byWay of its associated limb member, said conduit means including a pairof tubes having limb portions confined within said actuating meansconnected to,

limb members and pivot portions telescopically disposed with respect toeach other within said body and adapted for rotation about their commonaxis incident to upward and downward movement of said limb members.

3. In an animated figure comprising a body, a head unit pivotallysupported on said body for tilting movement and including relativelymovable upper and lower jaws, a pair of upwardly and downwardly movablelimb members pivotally supported with relation to said body, a pair ofreceptacles carried by said limb members and from one to the other ofwhich liquid is poured at such time as said limb members assume definiteposi-' tions in their respective paths of movement, motor-actuated meansfor effecting upward and downward movement of said limb membersalternately and including a pair of pivotally supported levers, a pairof cams for efiecting pivotal movement of said levers, link connectionsoperatively connecting said levers to said limb members, alost-motion-connecting device operatively connecting one of said leversto said head unit whereby said head unit is tilted rearwardly subsequentto the initiation of upward movement of one of said limb members,namely, that limb member which depends for its operation on said onelever, and tension means rendered operative pursuant to the initiationof a tilting movement of said head unit and thereupon functioning toeffect relative movement of said jaws to open-mouth position prior tothat instant at which said one limb member reaches its uppermost extentof travel.

4. An animated figure comprising a. body, a limb member pivotallysupported for upward and downward movement with relation to said body,

a liquid-dispensing receptacle carried by said limb member, conduitmeans for effecting transfer of liquid to said receptacle and. includinga pair of tubes of rigid material spaced from one another, one of saidtubes communicating directly with said receptacle, a flexible tubeconnecting said spaced tubes and forming a part of said conduit means, ashaft having an offset angularly disposed end fixed to that tube withwhich the receptacle directly communicates and a straight portionpivotally supported by the other tube of said pair, and actuating meansfor rotating said shaft upon upward movement of said limb member.

LEONARD J. HE'RTE.

